Wednesday, October top news briefs
It is Wednesday, October 21. Here are top news briefs.
Breonna Taylor grand juror speaks out
A member of the grand jury in the Breonna Taylor police shooting case said there was no option to indict Louisville police officers for killing Taylor, who was hit with six bullets and died at 26 years of age.
The juror is anonymous. The juror spoke out after a judge in Kentucky allowed the grand jurors to discuss the case — either with disclosing their names or anonymously.
The anonymous grand juror said the Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron never brought up homicide offenses and that prosecutors said they didn’t think they could make the charges stick except for wanton endangerment.
This is big news because a month ago, the AG Cameron said in a press conference that prosecutors took the time to explain the grand jury about homicide offenses and that the grand jury agreed that the shooting was justified, so there’s a different message here.
There is audio of the grand jury working on the case, but it does not include what indictments were recommended or jurors’ deliberations. That audio portion was edited out.
A major factor affecting the case is that Taylor’s boyfriend shot once from his registered gun at police officers who broke through the apartment front door, which caused the officers to send a hail of bullets. The boyfriend said he was scared by the officers when they banged on the door and didn’t realize they were police officers.
In related news, one of the police officers, Jonathan Mattingly, said in an interview released today that the shooting had nothing to do with race and shouldn't be compared with the death of George Floyd. He said Breonna Taylor would be alive if the officers just burst into the apartment instead of knocking first.
Pope Francis supports civil unions for same-sex couples
Pope Francis said he supports civil union laws to protect same-sex couples. He made the remarks in a documentary called “Francesco” that was released during the Rome Film Festival.
A civil union provides same-sex couples with rights that are similar to marriage.
Francis said, in his words, “Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it.”
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Lawyers can’t find parents of 545 separated migrant children
NBC News reported that lawyers can’t find the parents of 545 migrant children who were separated from their parents under a 2017 U.S. immigration pilot program. Most of the parents were already deported when lawyers tried to locate the parents after a federal judge ordered the parents to be found.
NBC News explained that the immigration policy is different from a Trump administration zero-tolerance policy in 2018 where 2,800 families were separated. In 2018, most of the families were still in custody when President Trump decided to stop the program he started with an executive order. The families were able to get back together.
But in the 2017 separations, hundreds of parents were deported to Central America without their children. As for the children who are still here, they were placed with foster families or distant relatives.
OxyContin pharma company to pay $8 billion settlement
Today the makers of the OxyContin prescription pill, Purdue Pharma, pleaded guilty to three federal criminal charges related to fraud and kickbacks and will pay a $8 billion settlement with the Justice Department. The company admitted they paid doctors through a speaking program to encourage them to write more OxyContin prescriptions.
There is still a criminal investigation on whether the company or its owners, the Sackler family, should be held accountable for the opioid addiction and overdose crisis, which has killed almost 500,000 people since 2000.
Purdue Pharma has filed for bankruptcy and will close down. There will be a new government-controlled company that will continue to sell OxyContin but also create drugs to help save people’s lives if they overdose. That new company will no longer belong to Purdue officials or the Sackler family.
Senate to vote on Amy Coney Barrett on Monday
The full Senate will vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court on Monday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) said the Senate will debate this weekend before voting on Monday. It is almost guaranteed that Barrett will replace the empty seat left behind Ruth Bader Ginsburg because Republicans control the Senate and all of them except for two senators have indicated they support Barrett, which means there is a 51-49 majority. Barrett will be in the Supreme Court before the 2020 election.
That is all the top news briefs for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://twitter.com/robferdman/status/1318605987738210305/photo/1
https://apnews.com/article/breonna-taylor-shootings-kentucky-b37fd44ffd2fe5358da22f949ad68e73
https://www.masslive.com/news/2020/10/pope-francis-backs-civil-union-laws-for-same-sex-couples.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/world/europe/pope-francis-same-sex-civil-unions.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1244066?__twitter_impression=true&s=09
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/business/purdue-pharma-guilty-plea/index.html